A judge on Saturday declined to order the Trump administration to immediately scale back its immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota, rejecting pleas from state officials who said the campaign was stepping on their sovereignty and endangering the public.
U.S. District Judge Kate Menendez said Minnesota and the Twin Cities had not definitively shown that the administration’s decision to flood the state with immigration agents, an initiative dubbed Operation Metro Surge, was unlawful or designed to coerce local officials into cooperating with other administration objectives.
However, while she denied the state’s request for a preliminary injunction ending the surge, the judge stressed that she was making not making a final determination on the state’s claims, a step that would take place after further litigation. She also cautioned that she was not deciding whether specific actions taken by immigration authorities during the surge were unlawful.
“It would be difficult to overstate the effect this operation is having on the citizens of Minnesota, and the Court must acknowledge that reality here,” wrote Menendez, who was named to the bench by President Joe Biden. “However, those are not the only harms to be considered. … Defendants have presented evidence that entry of the injunction requested by Plaintiffs would harm the federal government’s efforts to enforce federal immigration law.”
Immigration agents have flooded Minnesota in recent weeks, sparking protests as well as an intensive effort among residents to track and document the enforcement efforts. Federal authorities have shot and killed two people in Minneapolis since this surge began, prompting widespread outrage in Minnesota and across the country.
Minnesota officials sued the Trump administration on Jan. 12 in response to the surge, saying that federal agents had “stormed the Twin Cities to conduct militarized raids and carry out dangerous, illegal, and unconstitutional stops and arrests.”
In their lawsuit, Minnesota authorities said the Trump administration launched the campaign “to punish political opponents and score partisan points.” They said the federal government was putting public safety at risk, provoking protests and undermining public trust in local law enforcement.
The Trump administration said Minnesota officials were “effectively seeking a state veto over the enforcement of federal law by federal officers.”
Federal officials wrote in court papers that the immigration crackdown has been a success despite attacks and threats against federal personnel. President Donald Trump campaigned on enforcing immigration laws, the Justice Department wrote, and “Minnesota is a crucial priority for immigration enforcement.”
Federal officials said in a court filing Monday that there were approximately 3,000 officers and agents from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) “conducting immigration enforcement actions in the greater Minneapolis area.”
Minnesota officials, in court filings and public comments, have said the situation in and around Minneapolis is dire and required urgent help from the courts. They have also pointed to the two recent shootings by federal authorities to bolster their case.
After an ICE officer shot and killed Renée Good on Jan. 7, Minneapolis launched its emergency preparedness protocols, leading to “significant additional work” for police and others in the city, Minnesota officials wrote in a court filing.
Federal agents fatally shot Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, on Saturday.In a letter to the court the same day, Minneapolis and Minnesota officials said Pretti’s killing further illustrated the need for “a court-ordered respite” to the ongoing situation.
During a court hearing Monday, Menendez said that while “we are in shockingly unusual times,” she was skeptical about whether her authority let her decide if the immigration agents could remain deployed in Minnesota.
Menendez also questioned a letter Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) on Saturday, the day Pretti was killed, demanding access to the state’s voter rolls and records relating to food assistance programs.
Bondi appeared to link these moves with a possible end to the immigration crackdown in Minnesota. During the hearing, Menendez asked whether the letter was akin to a ransom note.
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